Timber thieves ‘observe’ prayer time

-The Star- A SYNDICATE in Raub would wait until residents performed terawih prayers before stealing timber, reported Harian Metro.

It said that during the prayers, syndicate members would take the opportunity to sneak into the nearby Batu Talam Forest Reserve and cut down trees.

They would then transport the timber out in lorries under the cover of darkness.

Raub District Forest Officer Zulfakar Ali said his men rushed to the reserve at about 11pm on Saturday following a tip-off and found cengal wood worth RM25,000 on a Selangor-bound lorry.

Following the case, which saw the arrest of three men, the officers detained another lorry laden with cengal wood worth RM13,000.

Zulfakar said the officers found the lorry when it became trapped in mud at the Kelau Forest Reserve.

“The syndicate members fled into the forest after realising we were coming. Our investigation revealed that the syndicate has been stealing high quality timber such as cengal and balau,” he said.

> Utusan Malaysia reported that Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Bhd (TV3) would run last year’s Hari Raya advertisement to replace the one that it had pulled out following complaints from viewers.

Media Prima Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Ahmad Farid Ridzuan said the station would instead air the old clip, which was based on an old Malay proverb.

“It has never come across my mind to offend anyone with the advertisement,” he said, adding that TV3 respected viewers’ opinions.

Viewers had complained that this year’s advertisement featuring children riding in a flying trishaw resembling Santa Claus.

TV3 creative director Douglas Khoo said he had only wanted to portray the children’s dream and happiness in the advertisement.

“I thought it was beautiful and suited this year’s theme. I regretted what has happened and apologise to the Muslim community,” he said.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a > sign, it denotes a separate news item.